1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to aircraft missile systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for simulating and evaluating the operational status of a missile interface system.
2. Discussion
Military aircraft are typically designed to be equipped with a plurality of deployable missiles, such as advanced medium range air to air missiles (hereinafter referred to as AMRAAMS). A missile and its corresponding missile launcher, either a rail launcher or an eject launcher, combine to form a missile station. Within such a military aircraft resides a computer which is responsive to pilot commands and communicates with each missile station to monitor status, perform launch preparation, and execute launch commands. A missile interface system receives commands from the computer and translates these commands to provide data used to monitor or control the missile stations. A typical on-board missile interface includes an umbilical interface and a data link interface. The umbilical interface serves to communicate with the missiles prior to launch separation, while the data link interface communicates with the missiles subsequent to separation.
Once a military aircraft is armed with a plurality of missiles, it is necessary to fully test (e.g., simulate and evaluate) the communications between the aircraft and each missile, both immediately before and immediately after deployment of each missile. In addition, missile interface tests need to be conducted during new aircraft development and/or manufacture, and after any maintenance on operational aircraft. That is, it is necessary to verify the proper functioning of the umbilical and data link interfaces. Test equipment which is used to conduct missile interface simulation and evaluation is designed to test the operational status of the missile interface system in order to verify that all components are in working order and that all connections are sound.
Heretofore, various systems have been employed for missile interface testing. These systems typically include devices which simulate the operational status monitoring and command signals provided to the aircraft computer during mission performance. These test instruments, for example, provide simulated signals to the missile interface and monitor its response to verify the integrity of various internal components of the missile interface. These prior systems have traditionally been large items requiring a computer to control them. Often, such systems are required to be housed in a building and necessitate transporting the aircraft to the building to conduct the necessary testing.
While such systems have proven successful, they are not without their drawbacks. For example, military aircraft having missile interfaces requiring testing are often located in areas near the fronts of a military conflict. In such areas, permanent buildings and reliable power sources are usually unavailable. Thus, most prior systems are not operable out in the field.
A particular system previously employed for simulating and evaluating the operational status of a missile system interface includes a first unit, Hughes Aircraft Company's "Aircraft Software Support Missile Simulator" (hereinafter referred to as ASSMS), and a second unit, Hughes Aircraft Company's "Message Monitor Unit" (hereinafter referred to as MMU). Pre-launch simulation and evaluation is conducted with ASSMS, while post-launch simulation and evaluation is conducted with MMU.
While prior art techniques for testing missile system interfaces have generally proven effective, they also inherently have several disadvantages. For example, current equipment such as ASSMS and the MMU, while being a significant advance in the field, has only limited simulation and evaluation capabilities. ASSMS provides pre-launch simulation and evaluation from launch initiation to missile separation. MMU provides simulation and evaluation of post-launch data linking. When used together, ASSMS and MMU are capable of simulating and evaluating only one complete launch cycle. Other drawbacks inherent in such systems include the tremendous size and the difficulty of operation and data analysis, which is unacceptable in areas near the fronts of military conflict where time is of the essence.